Beck Rock Manga Gets Live-Action Film with Hiro Mizushima

(Last Updated On: June 3, 2009)

Hiro Mizushima, the 25-year-old star of the manga-based Absolute Boyfriend, Hana Zakari no Kimitachi e: Ikemen Paradise, and Lovely Complex projects, will headline a live-action film adaptation of Harold Sakuishi‘s Beck rock-and-roll manga. The original manga portrays the lives of five members in a Japanese rock band on the rise, including the charismatic guitarist and band leader Ryusuke Minami (Mizushima).

The other “ikemen” (handsome) band members are 20-year-old Takeru Satoh(Princess Princess D, Kamen Rider Den-O, Rookies) as the vocalist and guitarist Yukio Tanaka/Koyuki, 29-year-old Kenta Kiritani (Crows Zero, Rookies) as the rapper Chiba, 18-year-old Aoi Nakamura (Shinigami no Ballad., Q.E.D., Koizora) as the drummer Yuji Sakurai, and 27-year-old Osamu Mukai (Honey and Clover, Nodame Cantabile, Monochrome Factor, Mei-chan no Shitsuji) as the bass guitarist Taira. 30 original songs are being written for the actors to perform with actual instruments after they undergo intensive training. Director Yukihiko Tsutsumi (20th Century Boys, Trick, Ikebukuro West Gate Park, H2) will begin shooting the film at the beginning of July, and the film will open in Japan in Fall of 2010.

The original manga ended in Kodansha‘s Monthly Shonen Magazine last June in Japan, and 15 million copies of the 34 volumes have been published since it began in 1998. Whereas Koyuki was the protagonist of the original manga, the film will focus on Ryusuke. Tokyopop published the first 12 volumes in North America, and Funimation completed its release of 2004-2005’s BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad anime version last year.